Swire Properties President Stephen Owens told a forum last week that ‘there’s no question’ that sales of condos at Brickell City Centre have slowed down.

Owens told the audience that the market is ‘at half the pace’ compared to last year. He blamed it on more discerning buyers, and said that it was a sign of a healthy market. His comments were reported by The Real Deal.

As of March, 17% of units at Swire’s Brickell City Centre RISE condo tower has been sold. That compares to nearly 80% sold at REACH, which launched sales earlier.

Dezer Development president Gil Dezer echoed Owens’ sentiments last week, saying that ‘there’s the same number of buyers’ as before, but more projects. He also said that it was now a healthier market, and that it wasn’t ‘normal or stable’ when units were selling out as fast as they were last year.

Arquitectonica-designed tower planned at 700 Brickell

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Swire Properties plans an 80-story, mixed-use tower at the 700 Brickell Ave. site it purchased recently for $64 million.

The Arquitectonica-designed high-rise would serve as the entrance to the Brickell CityCentre project currently under construction on both sides of Miami Avenue, immediately west of the 700 Brickell site.

The tower, to be called One Brickell CityCentre, will include retail, Class A offices, condominium units, and a hotel with a restaurant and lounge, according to a statement released Friday. The plan also envisions grand plazas and retail shops connected to Brickell City Centre.

Upon its completion in 2015, Brickell CityCentre will comprise a luxury shopping center, two residential towers, the EAST Miami hotel by Swire Hotels, serviced apartments, a wellness center and Class A offices.

Swire Properties intends to work with the city of Miami to have One Brickell CityCentre approved as an extension of the existing Special Area Plan. The site is currently home to Northern Trust Bank, which had an interest in the sale of the property.

“In creating the vision for One Brickell City Centre, we are mindful of the legacy of the sellers of 700 Brickell Avenue, heirs of the pioneer Brickell family and Northern Trust Bank, a great corporate citizen,” Swire Properties President Stephen Owens said in a statement. “Our goal is to develop a structure that will be artful in its mix of uses and will advance Brickell Avenue’s stature as Miami’s premier destination.”

“One Brickell CityCentre is a tower that, by its design and dramatic contours, creates views above the current Miami skyline,” Arquitectonica principal Bernardo Fort-Brescia said in a statement. “With sightlines that stretch from land to sea, the building’s glow will act as a welcoming lantern for downtown Miami and a portal to Brickell from all approaches.”

(c) a giant new front door with the aforementioned Brickell Avenue address.

They paid a pretty penny for it too, beating out Related Group and Fortune International who were also bidding for it, to the tune of $65 million.

And which property did they buy?

(Drum-roll…spoiler alert)….

The site was marketed on behalf of Northern Trust and the Brickell family trust, which share control of the site, according to sources who asked not to be named. And was most recently the home of Miami Today.

Most of Swire’s Brickell CitiCentre to finish by 2015

South Florida Business Journal by Oscar Pedro Musibay, Reporter

Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012, 7:04am EST

As work crews continue testing and prepping the site in Miami where Swire Properties is planning Brickell CitiCentre, the developer announced it has received a $140 million credit facility to fund operations and the initial development cost.

HSBC Bank USA is providing the credit facility, which Swire said would allow the developer to do more design, development and cover the initial construction costs, according to a statement released Tuesday.

The six-building project is planned for 9.1 acres between Brickell Avenue and South Miami Avenue, from Southeast Sixth Street to Southwest Eighth Street.

Located in the center of Miami’s financial district, Brickell CitiCentre will include 520,000 square feet of shopping and dining, three office buildings, two residential towers and a 243-room hotel with 93 apartments.

The project will be developed in two phases, with all elements of the ﬁrst phase, except for one office tower, scheduled for completion in 2015.

The first phase will have about 4.3 million square feet, including 520,000 square feet of retail shops, 800 condominium units, 243 hotel rooms, 93 serviced apartments, two office towers of 110,000 square feet each and 3,100 parking spaces.

A Feb. 15 news release said the third office tower would be completed by 2018, but the Tuesday release said market conditions would determine when the 750,000-square-foot structure would be built.

“Miami’s economy is benefiting from investments by its neighbors from South America, and we see strong growth potential for the city,” Swire Properties CEO Martin Cubbon said in the Tuesday release. “The location of Brickell CitiCentre offers an excellent opportunity to draw market share from local businesses and residents as well as visitors.”

Swire Properties is the U.S. subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Swire Properties Ltd.

In September, the Business Journal reported that the developer planned to dedicate 95,000 square feet of the project to medical offices and a wellness center.